Pixels
by TurtleCat
Summary: Ia is in debt. A lot of debt. The problem is, she's not good at much. After getting rejected over and over, she finally ends up in the worst possible place. Well, it can't be that bad, I mean, there's a cute boy at the front desk...
1. Chapter 1

The intimidating office chair spun, revealing the face I had so long aspired to see. His office was large, spacious, and very, very, dark. The walls were black, as well as the carpet and the ceiling, and his desk was no exception. The secretary nodded quickly, and shut the door, leaving me alone with the man.

"Miss Ia, was it?" The man looked up at me from under his lopsided fedora, "what concerns you," he smirked, "with humble, old, me?"

"Mister Kamui, I-"

"Shush." He cut me off midsentence, pressing his finger to my lips, "I didn't want you to speak yet." He whipped off his hat and skimmed it across the desk, "You seem like a sweet little girl."

I shifted uncomfortably in the oversized chair, unsure of whether to reply or not.

"Why would you tarnish your reputation by working with us?" His smile grew wider, revealing perfectly white teeth.

"I-I-I wish to work for you." I remembered to pull out a document from my purse, "Here, my resume."

"Now wait right there sweetie. You still haven't answered me." He placed his forefinger under my chin and lifted my head, forcing my eyes to meet his, "Don't get me wrong, young ladies like you are always a pleasure." He tilted his head, "But you're not just here for fun are you?"

I gulped, "N-no. I'm here to work." I fiddled with my finger as I struggled to find my accomplishments, "See here, I can work with computers, I can hack, I can…"

"And like we don't already have someone who can do that." He leaned over the desk, his lavender hair falling over his shoulders, "Hon, you gotta realize," Suddenly he fell back onto his chair, opening his arms, "We've got it all."

"H-how-"

"You think I don't know about you? I know everything." He chuckled, "absolutely everything."

"JUST GIVE ME A JOB." I slammed my hands against the desk, "Please!" I implored.

"Aren't you just the cutest? I like them like that, spirited."

"What did you say?"

"Nevermind. I'll give you a job. Pity about that spirit though." Ripping a cigar out of a nearby box, he pushed a bright red button by his desk, "Send in Galaco."

A put together women strolled in through the door, "Good afternoon, Mr. Kamui." She bowed.

"Gorgeous as always Galaco." He winked, "Would you please escort this lady towards the employment office?"

"But Mr. Kamui, we don't have-"

"Let's just say something about her, convinced me." He lit the cigarette and took a long inhale, "Why are you two girls still standing here? Go." The scent of smoke drifted out the room as I stepped out the door. "She's going to be a fun one."

"Ahh Galaco darling, what do we have here?" A young blond adjusted his glasses as he stood up to greet me. "Hey you're pretty. I see why the boss let you in." He scanned my body, and I quickly decided to change the subject,

"I'm Ia!" My eyes fell to his nametag, "And you are Len Kag-a-mine?"

"No, you're mistaken; you're the one who's going to be a- mine."

Blushing I looked down at my heels, luckily Galaco defended me, "You will refrain from flirting with the new workers. That's the boss's job." She muttered under her breath.

"Hey I can have some fun too!" he pouted. "Well I guess I gotta get you a job." Returning to his post, he grinned as his large monitor began to glow, "Let's see here. We don't really have any openings currently. I mean, Mr. Kamui could always need another secretary, but I don't think you deserve that kind of abuse." I glanced over at Galaco, who was humming absently, ignoring the conversation.

"Here I got it." Pressing the keyboard faster than I thought was possible, he shoved the enter key with a satisfying click, "Ok. You're going to be, Mr. Utatane's _assistant_." He stifled a chuckle, "back at the surveillance wing." He rose his arms to stretch and knocked over a cup of coffee that splattered over his khakis, "Darn."

To my surprise, Galaco allowed herself a poised giggle.

"Hey! It's not my fault!" Len raised his arms up defensively, "I woke up at 4 a.m. today!"

"What were you doing that early in the morning?" I asked, fixing my straw blond hair.

"Umm…well…I'd rather not say." He hugged his arms around his chest and shifted his weight from foot to foot, "The surveillance wing is not too far away, so I can show you the way, I guess."

_Hmm…talk about mood swings…_"Alright. That sounds great."

Galaco smiled and stepped out, "Ok! Len don't try anything funny with her! She's a good one!"

"I can tell already!" Len replied.

_Was that supposed to be assuring…?_

"So how did a pretty smart girl like you get stuck at a place like this?" I snapped back to attention as Len dragged me down the hall, "This isn't exactly, a place someone like you would aim for."

"I-I would rather not talk about it."

"Oh, I see." An awkward silence fell for a few moments, "You know, Mr. Utatane is really good with computers."

"Really!" I clasped my hands together, " do you think he'd be willing to teach me something?"

"Well" Len scratched the back of his head, "He's not one to…"

"Oh, I hope he's nice, then maybe I can get even better, or get promoted or,"

"IA!"

"huh?"

"He's not exactly, a good guy."

"What do you mean?"

"What was your impression of Mr. Kamui?"

"A perverted middle aged man who terrorizes job applicants."

"Oh, you weren't that far off."

"Well, like you're _that _much better." _I can't believe I'm talking so freely to this guy, _I looked up at his round cerulean eyes, _he's so open, I feel like I could talk to him forever._

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I playfully punched him in the shoulder, "Tell me what you were doing at 4 a.m."

"What! No." He coughed.

"Len! Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah fine, just choked on my own drool." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and pulled his sweater down.

"Alright." _Okay, maybe not _that _open… _

"I thought you were shy, but look who's pouring everything out." He tossed his hair, "I like that."

"Please don't say that."

"Why not? I thought you were the one that said I was a perv."

"Well you are. But Mr. Kamui just said something similar and…"

"Oh I understand. I don't want to be like that mutant eggplant." He gagged mockingly.

The walls in the halls were a dull gray, like the clouds right before a heavy rainfall. It was quite a calming color actually, but got quite plain after seeing wall after wall the same shade. The floor was tiled in black, and my heels echoed every step I took. I was dressed in a plain outfit, a white button down tucked into a black pencil skirt. I bumped into Len as he made an abrupt stop.

"Hey what was that for?"

"We're here." He sighed, and knocked on the door. "Mr. Utatane! New employee! Come and get it!"

"Huh? Len? What are you do-" A silver haired man poked his head out the door. "Oh. You must be Miss Ia."

"Yes." Len shoved me towards the man, "Just for you."

"Good" He rubbed his hands together, "I'm sure I can find some work for you."

Len tapped my shoulder as he turned to leave, "Have fun darling"

"So," The short man offered me his hand, "Piko Utatane, at your service."

"Well, you already know me I presume." I bowed slightly, "Ia."

"Ia, hmm? What can you do?" He brought himself uncomfortably close, inspecting my features, "You seem normal enough."

"Ah. Um. I don't mean to brag, but" I gripped my purse tightly, "I can hack, pretty well."

"I see." He wrapped his arms around my shoulder and pulled me inside, "You'll be here, next to Kaito and" he rolled his eyes, "Yohioloid."

I gasped as I entered the room. Monitors lined every inch of the wall, and computers of every model were placed perfectly on an array of organized desks. The only open seat was between a tall blue haired man and a medium sized blond one, so I took the seat there. Not forgetting to take a deep inhale, I turned to the screen. It took a few seconds before I realized I had no idea what to do. I nudged the blond with my elbow,

"Psst…"

"Hmm? Who are you?"

_Did he seriously miss that conversation I had 5 seconds ago?, _" Um I'm Ia."

"Oh!"

"Is there a problem?"

"No," he chuckled awkwardly, "not at all…"

"So what's your name?" I ignored the strangeness.

"Yohioloid, but I like to be called Yohi."

"Yohi? That's cute!"

"You think so?"

"Okay, Yohi," I put on my best charming smile, "What are we supposed to do here?"

He had already turned away and was whispering to the brunet on his right. He wasn't too good at it, I could clearly make out what he was saying,

"Kiyo?"

"Yes." The responder was looking over a pair of thick glasses. He wasn't trying to conceal his voice even one bit.

"That's a girl…"

"Yup, good observation."

"I've never been so close to one before." He hissed.

Kiyo patted Yohi's back, "You're a lost cause my friend."

I tapped the confused programmer on the shoulder, "Excuse me…"

"Oh right! Hi um, err…"

"Ia."

"Hola Ia!"

"Now tell me, what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know."

"Wait, you don't know?"

The person he was talking to earlier leaned back in his swivel chair, "Yohioloid's an idiot. That's all there is to it."

"Aww man, this is going to be hard."


	2. Chapter 2

**Review Response Time! YAY!**

**IDon'tCare: (iloveit) haha! I wanted to make Yohioloid a playboy, I really did. I actually wrote some Yohioloid x Sonika stuff that had him as exactly that. If you want me to post I will… I just need to find it .3. He'll change, I can assure ya. Also, you should make an account. To show that you really do care. CLAP YOUR HANDS IF YOU BELIEVE. **

Deciding that it would be useless prodding Yohi for any more info, I decided to ask the man with the blue hair.

"Hey!"

"Hi!" He whipped his head towards me, causing his hair to fly all over the place, even though it was pretty short.

"I'm Ia."

"Yes! I'm Kaito!"

"You seem…peppy."

"I love it when there are new people, that's all! The last person to arrive was Yohi, and that was over a month ago!"

"Oh, I get it now."

"Get what now?"

"Why Yohi is so shy."

"Why? I want to know!" Kaito whined.

_It seems I have stumbled upon a man-child_, "Well, he must still be getting used to this place. It may just take him a while, that's all."

"Oh good. Because if you haven't noticed," he brought his mouth by my ear, "he's kindof lame."

I giggled at his childishness. It was a fresh feeling after dealing with his perverted boss, "Yeah, I agree."

"You're nice Ia! I like you!" He pulled back and swiveled in his chair, "now back to work I guess." He groaned.

"Oh yeah, what are we supposed to do?"

"Currently, we're trying to grab info from UTAU co."

"And that doesn't affect you conscience at all?" I lifted one eyebrow.

"Does it affect yours? Mr. Utatane says it's alright, so it should be."

"Oh. Ok." I rolled my eyes, "Now how do we do this…"

"Need assistance Miss?" The brunet from before hovered over my shoulder.

"Yes, just for a sec. Kiyo was it?"

He sighed, "That's what Yohi calls me. He's usually a lot different. I'm sorry you had to see him like _this_ today." He shoved his glasses up his nose, "Call me Teru.

"I like that, Teru." I repeated.

He bent down, his hair brushing my ear. It smelled like it had been seeped in some sort of chemical, but I couldn't put my finger on what. Gently lifting my hand off the mouse, he replaced it with his own, and opened a program I did not recognize. I squinted as the monitor suddenly changed to a bright white then faded back into a deep black. My cursor shone green as Teru straightened his back,

"There you go."

"Th-Thank you." I felt my cheeks redden as he returned to his seat.

"No problem."

"Ia, are you alright?" Yohi turned towards me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Y-y-yeah…I'm fine." I swear I saw Teru hide a smirk. He was a little too far to be certain though, "It, it's a little hot in here, don't ya think?"

"Maybe it's just _you._" He paused a second, after the you, "But I guess so, yeah."

"Alright-y then." _Was he trying to flirt with me?_ Kaito chuckled under his scarf.

"It's a little fast to be troubling Miss Ia like this, don't you think, boys?" A cold hand gripped my shoulder.

"Mr. Utatane." I breathed.

"That's my name yes." He grinned, "Why you seem to be working just fine! Look at you, you already figured out how to…"

"Yes. It wasn't all that difficult actually." I felt something in my chest swell with pride.

"Oh good. Good-looking with brains too!"

Blushing a bit, I took the chance to take a good look at his face. It was a little unkempt, a few loose strands stuck straight up, and his beard was only halfway shaven. There was a little bandage on his left jaw, probably from a stray cut.

"Miss Ia? Why are you staring? It wouldn't do you good to fall in love with your boss." He laughed.

"N-n-no nothing like that at all!" I shook my head rapidly to prove my point.

"We'll see about that."

"What did you say? I mean, pardon sir?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." He left, humming a quiet, simple tune accompanied by his heavy footsteps.

"That was strange." Kaito blew some air into his cheeks, "Mr. Utatane never talks to _me _like that."

"I would hope not." I muttered, somewhat to myself.

"Yeah, me neither." He took a long sip of his coffee.

Yohi gripped my hand, "I won't let him hurt you, Ia!"

"Thank…you?"

"BAHAHAHA!" My blue-haired coworker guffawed, his coffee streaming out of his mouth and nostrils.

"Kaito are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." He flicked a tear off his lashes.

"Let's get you cleaned up." I scanned the room, "Does anyone know where the paper towels are?"

"I think there are some by Len's office. Do you want me to show you the way there?" Yohi offered.

"That would be nice. My memory isn't all too great."

"Great!" All of Yohi's previous awkwardness seemed to wash away.

_Hmm. What happened?_

He yanked open the door handle, and let me step into the hall. He wore a white button up shirt, buttoned all the way up to the collar and had a black bow tie around his neck. Slightly fitted khaki's fell over a pair of bright orange Nike's which I hadn't noticed before. I decided not to ask about them.

"So Ia." His voice pulled me back into the world around me , "What do you like to do?"

"I can't do much." I shrugged. "Living is good enough for me."

He smiled. It was a cute, innocent smile.

"Ha. Me too."

"You too what?"

I probably shouldn't have replied so quickly.

"I can't do much."

"You see, you were supposed to say. 'Ia, I bet you can do something!'"

"Oh!" He suddenly stopped, "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine! Really!" I tilted my head, "I was just joking."

"Ok." He looked down at the tiled floor. I could see his ear sticking out of his long blond hair turning bright red. Once again, it was cute.

An awkward silence fell as we continued walking down the hall. Finally, I decided to break the silence.

"Your ear is cute." Then I realized what I said.

"Wha?"

"Nothing."

"Your ear is cute too." He whispered. I instinctively put my hand over my ear. _He was looking too?_

"Ow!"

"Are you okay?"

"I boxed my own ear."

"Haha!"

"Don't laugh!"

"I'm sorry, I just…HAHAHA."

"Yohi stop!" I playfully shoved him away, "Anyway, I'm fine now."

"Oh good." He panted.

"Ia?" A familiar pair of cerulean eyes met mine.

"Len!"

Yohi didn't say a thing.

_Hmm…_

"Oh it's Yohi!" Len leaned over his desk.

"Yup." He replied.

"So what gives me the honor of seeing this lovely lady twice in one day?"

"Paper towels." Yohi's eyes narrowed.

"Paper…Oh I see." Len stretched and rose from his chair, "Kaito again?"

I nodded.

"Alright hon. Here you go." He winked. I think Yohi growled.

"Thanks Len! Owe you one!" I nudged Yohi in the ribs but he ceased to say anything.

"No, the pleasure was all mine."

"Okay! See you soon!"

"Soon isn't soon enough."

"C'mon Ia, let's leave this flirt to his…whatever he does on that thing."

"Yohi…?" He dragged me out of the room.

_YOHIOloid…he just gets stranger and stranger._


	3. Chapter 3

"YOHIOloid! What was that?" I raised my voice as soon as we were out of earshot, "Why?"

"Just…nevermind." His voice was softened to no more than a whisper, "You just don't talk to him too much okay?"

"Why not?" Sighing, I shook my head, "I barely know you, and I completely and utterly have found myself befuddled."

"I'm glad you didn't get angry." He resumed walking, his bright shoes a reflecting on the dark, hard floor, "Kaito's probably dried off by now."

"Yeah." I glanced at the ground "Wanna race?"

"Your heels must be a foot high you can't run in…"

I threw them off and started sprinting down the hall.

"IA wait!"

Panting, I skidded to a stop in front of the computer lab door. I squinted into the distance but Yohi was so far behind he was barely a dot on the wall. With a faint giggle I twisted the handle and yanked it open, revealing a pitch-black space of darkness. Gasping from the surprise, I staggered back, the roll of paper towels escaping from my grip.

"What's wrong?" I quickly tried to whip my head around fast enough to find the source of the voice, but instead found my right foot frantically trying to get a hold on top of the towels. Consequently I slipped.

But I didn't feel the floor.

"Whoa there." I felt a pair of delicate hands on my back, my hair barely brushing the ground. My eyes darted towards the spark of neon orange, and I sucked in my breath as soon as I realized who it was.

"Th-Thanks."

"Took you guys long eno-" A blue-haired figure stepped out into the dim light of the hallway. Within a few seconds, his jaw dropped, along with his fresh cup of coffee, "GOOD GOING YOHI!"

"What?" Yohi hurriedly lifted me back to my feet, "She fell."

Kaito snorted, "Yeah right."

"Yeah, he's right, I fell" Adjusting my stance, I brushed off specks of invisible dirt from my skirt, "No biggie."

He lifted a matter-of-fact finger, "So you're saying that Yohi caught you?"

I nodded.

He twirled the edge of his scarf around his index finger, and looked at the ceiling. I followed his gaze, but didn't say anything.

"Well," he finally started, "according to the research I've been collecting over the past month Yohi has been here, nothing like that's ever happened before." With a slight grin, he tapped his chin, "Then again, as stated by the subject, he has never been around a girl before."

"You sound like Kiyoteru!" I laughed, trying to divert the subject.

"Geekiness can rub off." Kaito shrugged, "Anywho, what really matters is that Yohi clearly has a cru-"

"CRUD!" Yohi quickly shoved the bluenet out of the way, "I have to finish today's quota! Excuse me."

With a mischievous smirk and a twinkle in his eye, Kaito kneeled to the ground, "Looks like we'll need those paper towels after all."

"Huh. Oh yes." I had almost forgotten about those, "Um…just wait a sec."

"No, you go on ahead, I can clean it. It was my fault anyway."

"Aha. Thanks. Wait." I heard a faint crash in the distance, "That was YOHIOloid, was it not?"

"I can't be sure. But, yes, probably."

"Why is it so dark in there anywho?"

"Power outage, Mr. Utatane's on it don't worry."

"Is everyone still in there? And why is it only in our room." I craned my neck towards the ceiling, "See the lights are on here."

"Ia see that." He jabbed me in the side with his elbow, "See what I did there?"

"No. No I don't. Answer me."

"What if I don't want to?"

"And I thought you were nice." I poked my tongue out of my mouth, "I'm going to go get a flashlight to make sure Yohi is ok. Ok?"

"Wait a second, I'm coming too."

"No you're not. You're cleaning your mess, remember?" He took a quick look below and grimaced. I giggled, "Have fun."

"Where are your shoes?"

"Stop avoiding your work, Kaito." A tall silhouette emerged from the doorway, followed by a messy-haired blond. Adjusting his glasses so the hallway light reflected perfectly across the lens, he placed his palm on his hips, "Anyway, Mr. Utatane said that this is a bigger problem than he originally thought."

Yohi quickly straightened his back and collected himself, "What's that supposed to mean."

"Well," Kiyoteru continued, "I was getting to that. Since we cannot work without computers without electricity, we'll have to share _another _workspace." He paused for a deep breath, and waited another few seconds to release.

Yohi and Kaito both raised impatient eyebrows.

"With the employment office…" Teru's voice trailed off, making the phrase almost inaudible.

"Oh so with-"I started, clasping my hands together.

"LEN." Yohi finished through his teeth.

"Exactly." The brunet tapped his temple, "it shouldn't be too hard. We have the spare laptops. It'll just be a bit crowded. A few of us will maybe, I stress the _maybe, _ ."

"What did you say?" I cupped my hand over my ear to make sure I was hearing right.

"No use hiding it." Biting his bottom lip, he enunciated each syllable, "some of us also may have to join Mr. Kamui in his office."

"I'm not going near that perv." I muttered.

"I second that emotion." Kaito declared, Yohi nodding in agreement. "Although, I really want to see him treat me like I'm hot or something. Why does Ia always get to be the one who's flirted with?"

"Uh. Kaito, I don't _like _getting flirted with by my bosses. It's more like harassment."

"Well. It's fun getting attention."

"Not that kind of attention."

"Then what kind of attention?" Yohi chimed in, his eyes actually brimming with curiosity.

"Comfortable attention. Like, laughing…about jokes we can…relate to."

"Oh yeah I have one!" Kaito raised his hand and began waving it in the air, "Kiyo you've got to hear this!"

"I don't believe I do. We've already had a very extended break, we must get back to work."

"No, hear me out." He extended his two pointer fingers and motioned towards Yohi and I, "he caught Ia."

"What do you mean, he caught Ia? Was there an incident?"

"Well, she tripped, and he caught her."

"He" Teru blinked, "caught her?" and tilted his head.

"Yes."

"Why that _is _a very good joke."

"Haha! But it's not a joke!" Kaito ruffled Yohi's hair, "I think it scored him some points with his little sweet-"

"I agree with Teru, let's get back to work, shall we? I'm sure Len has some space for us." Before anyone could argue, I started my way back to the front desk. Too much walking today.


	4. Chapter 4

"It's not that I don't like Len, but don't you think a whole week with him would be a bit…_much?"_ Kaito whispered in my ear as we walked down to the office.

"What d'ya mean?" I replied.

"Well, he's kindof an airhead."

"Like someone else I know…"

"Oh YOHI? I know right? Let's GOSSIP about him," He raised his voice, "BEHIND HIS BACK."

I slapped my hand over Kaito's mouth, "What the heck are you doing?"

He chuckled and slowed his steps to fall at pace with Kiyoteru. Yohioloid didn't look like he noticed and seemed preoccupied by the reflection of his neon shoes on the tiles. Looking a little closer, I could see the tip of his ear turning rose. I guess he had noticed after all.

After a few minutes we arrived at Len's office, his desk was messy as usual, but instead of the usual towering stacks of books scattered on the ground the carpet was completely bare. The blond stood up and flashed a grin,

"Welcome to my humble workspace, _lady_ and gentlemen," He winked in my general direction. I fumbled awkwardly with the hem of my skirt. "Sadly," He pouted, "I could not afford to organize my desk in any other fashion, thus, you must work on the ground."

I heard Kiyoteru groan.

"But," He pulled out three _things_ by the handles, "Lap desks!"

"But there are _four_ of us." Kaito pointed out. He turned to Teru, "Right?"

"What my acquaintance is trying to say, is there seems to be a shortage of the 'desks'." Kiyoteru answered.

"Ia can sit with me." Len swept off half of his desk, leading us to start exchanging skeptical looks.

"Um, it's fine." I glanced back at Yohi and the others, "I can work without a desk, thanks for the offer."

"No, I insist. We can share the seat, plus you're the only one who would fit comfortably with me on the cushion."

"A-Alright." I shot a pleading look at Kaito but he just snickered. _What a __**friend.**_

Kiyoteru clapped his hands, "Finally, now we can actually _work!_"

Yohi snorted, "Whoop."

Now that the situation was actually _real_, Kaito's little question seemed awfully true. Being this close to Len was honestly kindof nerve-wracking. I could barely move without our arms brushing. And, on top of that, I couldn't tell whether or not he was earnestly trying to be a gentleman, or if he was just messing with me.

He was probably messing with me.

Every so often I peeked at his screen, and I often regretted seeing what I saw. After about the 20th time he caught me and laughed.

"Don't tell Mr. Kamui, okay?"

I gulped and nodded.

"Ia, what's wrong?" Damn he was close, "Am I too close?"

I shook my head no.

"Alright then. Just tell me if there's a problem. Now work!" he ordered, impersonating Teru. I tried to giggle, but my throat was as dry as the desert.

My cursor was shining stark, bright green against the black monitor. I slowly started to type, my hands hesitating, as if something was holding me back. Then it happened. Something short circuited. The reassuring buzz of electricity that constantly aired around us suddenly stopped. For a moment, _everything_ stopped. My little green dash was no longer blinking; it was just frozen on the screen, staring at me.

And then it was dark.

All I could hear were Len's calm breaths by my side accompanied by my more erratic ones. For a moment my whole world swerved into….into…

~_"Ia? Ia!"_

"_Who is it?!" The little girl clutched the trunk of the tree tighter._

"_Shh, Ia, honey, it's Mom." The woman crouched down besides the shivering girl._

"_No." The girl stared right on forward, her pupils shrinking._

"_Ia. You're soaked through, let's go home."_

"_It's dark. I don't think we should go. Just stay here."_

"_Ia? What are you talking about? You'll catch a cold."_

"_I don't like the dark."_

"_No one does sweetie. But sometimes you just have to brave it."_

"_There was light before it got dark and wet." The girl finally faced the woman, "Did the dark eat it?"_

"_No, that light was just the first to escape."_

"_It es-caped?"_

"_Yes. It was brave. Like little Ia will be. Let's escape from the dark and go home." She held the girl's delicate hand._

"_It's too dark." The girl started breathing heavily, "Mom, it's gonna eat me."_

"_Don't be ridiculous Ia!" She scooped the girl up._

"_Mom don't go! Stay with me!"_

"_You're _coming_ with me! Home!"_

"_No!" The girl shrieked._

_Then there was a bright flash of light again. And then everything melted into a whole lot of a squares.~_

"Pixels." I breathed.

"What, Ia?" Len touched my hand, I instinctively flinched away.

"No."

"Ia, what's wrong?" I could hear Yohioloid's voice now.

"Don't move. It's too dark." My voice seemed strange, almost inhuman.

"It's fine! Calm down, Ia, calm down." I could feel Len's firm grip on my shoulders, and I swatted his hands away.

"We're not going, alright?" I tried to smile, "We'll just wait until the power comes back."

"Damn, that's right. We can't leave until the power comes back." Kiyoteru's steady voice echoed from the back of the room, "The doors are automatic."

I heard someone rise to their feet, and heard the voice of my best bluenet friend, "Cellphone, anyone?" A few indistinct beeping noises and we reached Mr. Kamui's cell, " This is room 043, Mr. Kamui speaking, who is this?"

"Kaito Shion."

"Yes? And?"  
"We seem to be trapped in Room 65, and we need to get out. The power's gone kaput."

"The front desk too, huh."

"Okay thanks for clarifying now HELP US!"

There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Fine."

Within a few seconds the door shakily slid open, allowing light to pour into the room.

"There aren't any squares." I shook my head.

"What?" Len asked absentmindedly, he wasn't really paying attention.

"Nothing. I just want to get back to, my um, pixels."

"What was that about anyway?" His eyebrows furrowed and his blue eyes shimmered with concern.

"What what was about?"

"The Pixels. Right after the power went out, you grabbed my arm and whispered 'Pixels'." He brushed his bangs out of his face, "As much as I admired the attention, it was a little worrisome."

"Just forget about it."

"Ia!" Yohioloid jogged up to me, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm-I'm fine. How about you?"

"Not bad at all. But Ia, you were…panicking…back there." He quickly turned his head to prove his point, and slapped me in the face with his messy hair, "Oops, sorry."

I giggled it off, "No it's fine. And I was fine too. Nothing to worry about here."

_Nothing at all._


	5. Chapter 5

We were allowed to leave work after that. I didn't really have a home, so I kindof hung around in places nearby. This was my first job, the first time I would have some sort of steady income, but that would all come later. Usually I was fine; I still had enough money saved up from before to be able to rent a motel room or something, but tonight was different. I didn't want to be alone.

They had come back. The little haunting things in the darkness that I thought I had left behind in my long ago childhood.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize that I was pacing by the front doors of the building, my heels obnoxiously digging into the sidewalk.

"Ia?" I looked up at Yohi, half a piece of a bagel hanging out of his mouth, "What are you doing?"

"Uh, nothing, I'm just about to go …home." I stuttered through my teeth.

"Really huh?" He began pacing along with me.

"Y-yeah."

"I'm not sure about that." He suddenly stopped, "You don't have a home do you?" His expression fell, "I didn't mean it like that, I mean-"

I sighed, "No, you're right. I don't really have a place where I call _home_."

"So where are you going to stay tonight?"

"I usually rent a room or something but," I hesitated, "I'm broke."

"I see." Yohi's eyes started to glimmer, as if calculating a complex code, "Let's go?"

"What?"

"You're coming with me." He gripped my forearm and began to lead me towards the bus stop. I couldn't reply. How could I?

I stared at him, for a while. His face was practically glowing with sheer determination. _Who even is this… _I have to admit, I was relieved that he decided to let me into his home. The prospect of being all by myself was tearing my mind to shreds.

"Thank you." I whispered, halfway to myself.

His ear flushed red, "No problem."

We stood next to the small flickering LED display, reading "US TOP" in blocky white writing.

"It'll take a few minutes before the bus arrives."

I nodded, "Hey, Yohi?"

"Yeah?"

"You confuse me."

He chuckled, but even that was different than before. There was no sense of nervousness; it was just a clean, sweet, chuckle. "I'm sorry Miss Ia."

"There it is again. Your laugh. Why aren't you nervous?"

"Why should I be nervous? Is this a test?"

"Damn it. Where's the dork from before?" I slapped my hand over my lips, "No, I mean,"

"It's my turn to say 'No, you're right'. I am kindof a dork, maybe." His light laughter filled the air once more, "But I guess that's just how I am."

"_No._ I've barely known you, for what, two days?" I shook my head, "And now you've gone and changed in an instant. I know that's not who you are. The changes are far too real."

"But you trust me anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Like you said, you've known me for two days, yet you trust me," he tucked his hands in his pockets, "Why's that?"

"You're avoiding the question." I tried my best to stay composed, "What happened?"

A painful silence poured over us. I felt a drop of water on my nose, soon accompanied by an orchestra of raindrops falling over the city. Pulling a bright red umbrella out of his bag, Yohi spun the handle as it jerked open and held it over our heads.

"You happened, I think." He tilted his head down a bit, "When we were in the dark, I heard you whisper something."

"Pixels" we said in unison.

He looked at me for a second and then continued, "Everyone in the room could feel the tense aura radiating from you. I was scared. Ia, you don't know how glad I was when I saw that you were ok." He grinned, squinting his eyes just a bit, "And when I saw that you braved it, whatever happened, I decided then and there that I would change. I had this strange feeling, like I had to get better." He searched in my eyes, as if looking for an answer, "I can't really explain it, but I wanted something else."

"You're not the only one who changed." I curled my fingers around my forearm, "I know exactly how you feel." I mustered a laugh, "It's funny. I bet we're the only two people in the world whose life gets turned upside-down because of a power outage."

"I like this new angle."

"Me too. It suits you."

"Thanks."

The rain was gorgeous, drumming out sweet little rhythms on the asphalt, bathing the world in a blurry white filter.

"It's pretty."

"Mmhmm."

The bus pulled up, the windows revealing bright lights and empty seats.

"Like always." Yohi swept the umbrella closed as we stepped onto the bus. It was quieter in there, the rain was muted through the walls. We chose the seats in the very back, each one covered in an ancient navy blue cover with stuffing forcing its way through the cushion.

"You tired?" He leaned over his knees and stifled a yawn.

"Wide awake."

"Lucky." Falling back, he crossed his legs and rested his head against the seat.

The motor was moving at a comforting speed, and with the slight up and downs of the road, I could see why Yohi was feeling so sleepy. After another turn, his head ended up resting my shoulder, his long blond hair going everywhere.

I tried to pat it down, "Messy oh so messy." But it wouldn't budge.

I just sat there in defeat, with a sleeping man who I barely knew for a couple of days on my shoulder.

But at least I wasn't alone.


End file.
